"When checks and balances break down, all society can rely on are the whistleblowers," Tim Berners-Lee told reporters, in response to a question on Snowden, who is a fugitive because of the US intelligence files he leaked.
"And because they have been performing this important function of saving society when it is in its most desperate state, therefore we need, I think, to have a form of international recognition for whistleblowers," added Berners-Lee.
The files leaked by Snowden have exposed widespread spying by the US National Security Agency and the intelligence services of other countries including Britain, sparking a storm of protest.
Berners-Lee said that checks and balances in the United States and other countries had failed and that it would be "stupid" to think that reformed systems would be better.
"We must assume that those systems in the future will break down too," he said, noting that the importance of whistleblowers would be undiminished.
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